Cammarata’s Two Worlds

By Frank Thoms

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” “Two are better than one.” Hand in hand, arm in arm, face to face, cheek to cheek. Language often describes pairs. The series of 26 monoprints titled “Two Worlds” created by Kathleen Cammarata at Esperanza Studio addresses the significance of pairs.

When there are two motifs placed side by side, the inclination is to compare and contrast. How similar are they? How different are they? The human brain learns to recognize the world first by similarities and then by differences. These fruits are pears. Then, this pear is a Bosc and that pear is a Bartlett. Comparisons abound in literature. “Compare dead happiness with living woe,” wrote Shakespeare. They abound in culture. Feast or famine. Friend or foe. Fight or flight.

Comparisons in the visual arts begin with the formal elements of line, shape, texture, and color. The viewer may ask,” How are the elements used differently in each motif?” “Do both have fluid lines, organic shapes, coarse textures, natural color?” Rivers of lines move through the round shapes and subtle textures grace the surfaces of the monoprints. In “Two Worlds,” parallel spheres or hemispheres occupy the picture plane. Sometimes the spheres touch at the circumference and sometimes a small space separates them.

On first glance, the spheres appear to be the same, but through sustained looking one detects variations. They are not in opposition to each other but rather companions in the piece. Two speaks to relationships. It takes two to tango. Two can play this game. One enhances the other. The theme expands with concentric circles, overlapped semi-circles and layers of forms.

This body of work is a series of monoprints. A monoprint is a one-of-a-kind original artwork. The print is created from an inked image on a Plexiglas plate, and then transferred to paper by using a printing press. Because most of the image is transferred in the printing process only one strong impression can be taken, hence the term monoprint. Each print is unique.

Cammarata has been a painter and printmaker for 30 years. She has shown internationally. She taught in two museums and a university in the US as well as hosting many workshops in her studio. She has had 26 solo exhibitions, the most recent at the Bellas Artes in March of 2014.

“Two Worlds” can be seen at Esperanza Studio on Sunday, September 7, from 1 to 4 pm or by appointment. kcammarata@gmail.com